sti-04!!

Guys,
Just for the record i am not looking for sympathy or a ripping i just wanted to share something with you.
Yesterday i had a funny turn in the yard ..... a blackout & i collapsed.
I own quite a succesful transport business & have a plant rental & sales (heavy) business as well. Yesterday i felt quite dizzy an sick & went to the hospital in the early hours of the morning & they reckon i had a mini stroke. Theres a 3 letter word for it...... anyway i am 29 & at my age you would think i should be flying. Its now time for me to take a step back.
I work in excess of 80 hrs a week & constantly run about like a maniac, i rule with the iron fist.
Well not now. Lets see what the next few weeks bring.

STI

PS life live... dont let it ruin you.
Your hear for a good time, not a long time.

xx

simmer

A TIA @ 29 :/

80 hours a week isn't great, but you already know that

Cut your hours and alcohol / nicotine. Stop eating ****e...

SunnySideUp

Everything is pointless unless you have something more than wealth, it's been said a million times - and it's true - the absolute best things to be enjoyed are free.

GlesgaKiss

Not good Sti. Sounds like you have earned the rest anyway!

I have much the same attitude though. To me work and making as much money as possible to have a better quality of life is what it's about.

GlesgaKiss

That is certainly true, but sometimes the best things in life go pear-shaped and leave you feeling bitter. At least when you're doing your own thing you don't need to rely on anyone.

sti-04!!

Guys, sorry for the rant. I needed to express myself in the most harmless way.
TIA was the word they used. I suppose i need to slow down.

Cheers for the comments

Will

Ditch the 80 hours a week!! i know it is your own company but get someone else to do some of the work for you, bring someone in!! family is more important than work mate, dont work your self in to the ground

sti-04!!

Alcohol is my ownly vice at the moment. I eat ok, I took the kids out the other day & they asked for a chinese, i got them a take out while i had salmon an veg. Cant be arsed with take outs at the moment.

Lisawrx

iTrader: (1)

Maybe true, but tbh, it's not necessarily a better quality of life at all if you are being made ill just to have more money. Money will bring some good things in life, but if you are not healthy enough to enjoy them, is it really worth it?

Anyhow, hope you are feeling better soon sti. Cut down the hours, and have a bit more relaxing time, you must need it.

corradoboy

Transient Ischemic Attacks: Part I. Diagnosis and Evaluation - April 1, 2004 - American Family Physician

Hope you get it sorted, now relax and enjoy the things that matter

sti-04!!

I plan to ditch the hours but anyone on here that owns there own business will say the same ............... its hard to let go.

I have worked for 4 years building the businesses up & i dont want someone making an **** of it. I ownly purchased the transport company last year & already its doing better than plan given climate.

Turbohot

So very true.

Easy, Stephen. Get well soon

sti-04!!

TBH i am fine. My problem SW is that i dont have anywhere i can go for a rant so SN has to do.
I was just a little scared when the sister told me she reckoned i had a TIA.

Will

I could imagine it would be hard to let go mate.

Just take a back seat, hire someone to do the manic running while you just sit in the office and keeping an eye on things

nixxon

If you don't slow down, you will die! That is for sure. You've had your warning - next time it's for real!
That's what my doc told me after my heart attack last year.
So, I took 9 months off and learnt to relax. Best thing I ever did. After 20 years of self employment it felt wierd, but nothing's that important anymore.
Good luck,
Nick

Simon K

29 ? jesus thats young. What did the hospital do ? recommend asprin ?

Well, sounds like you've got to weight up what you want from life now ? You've had a warning, so perhaps its time to step back. Im 37 and recently a father and am now suddenly aware of my health. I need to cut back hours, cut back what I eat as I want to see him marry, and have kids !

I hope you get better soon matey, and all goes well :-)

SBK

Kieran_Burns

iTrader: (1)

I don't wish to appear rude, but having more money does not necessarily equate to having a better quality of life.

Being fit, healthy with friends and family would get someone a far better quality of life than some rich overweight unloved loner. This is not to say anyone here is the latter - it's purely to demonstrate a point

I think what is being shown here is that all work and no play make jack a dead boy - life is about balance and maybe addressing this unbalanced lifestyle is what is needed here.

Mark1983

iTrader: (2)

You need to work to live, not live to work. If you're in a situation to reduce your hours, do it.

bigh221

Doesnt sound good mate, i suffered a blackout and collapsed in nov 2007, said it was a one off tonic clonic seizure, never found a reason had MRI,CT scans and a million blood tests, lost my driving licence for a year. Back on the road now, do suffer from anxiety every time i feel sick and dizzy thinking i am gonna blackout again but thats life eh, hope your on the road to recovery mate.

Best Regards

Neil 06 2.5 WRX PPP

SJ_Skyline

Wishing you all the best mate

Timwinner

iTrader: (3)

At 30 I had a complete nervous breakdown, Constant panic attacks, intrusive thought, couldnt sleep, eat, exercise. It was due to work and nothing else.
I realised then that work should always come second to everything else. Now I have less "Stuff" but more time with my girlfriend, my pets and hopefully soon some kids.
I put a lot of time into a charity I am trying to get off the ground and enjoy living.
Its a harsh wake up call but its a necessary one. Glad your ok.

StickyMicky

I ditched a vast lump of my workload around 1.5 years ago, i was also doing the 80 hour weeks, and i was just becoming an angry monster

when the old man had his heart attack at 50 (it killed him! he also did shedloads of hours) it reinforced my opinion that i should start to take it a bit easier

lots of people used to tell me that i was working far to many hours, now the same folk have a go because i do **** all you can not win

stilover

My old man is in a similar situation.

Has ran his own Industrial Roofing and Cladding Business for over 40 years. Long hours, sorting problems, rushing around sites etc. Basically being stressed for 40 years, day in, day out.

Last year he started regularily feeling dizzy. Blacked out a couple times, and had some panick attacks etc.

Went to Doctors, and was told he had Vertigo. Recieved some pills, but months later the symtoms weren't receeding. Back to Doctors, and sent for some tests/scans at Hospital. Was told he'd had a Stroke. Obviously this news came as a shock to us all. I insisted he had a second opinion, of which he did. Went for more scans etc, and concluded that he hadn't had a Stroke. It was just stress related.

40 years of too much work, stress, ****, Booze, and eating all the wrong foods has caught up with him. His major problem is that he can't switch off thinking about work. He's taken weeks of work, gone on Holiday, but just can't stop thinking about work, which is what is making him ill.

He finaly decide that enough was enough. He knew that if he carried on the way he was going, he'd end up in a box. In February he decided to sell the company and retire. He's 61.

Luckily he's got enough savings, his Pension is quite generous, and the company is worth a few quid. All in all, he decided he'd had enough and it was time to enjoy life without all the stress work brought.

He'd set a date of End of May this year to organise the selling of the company. However, being in Construction, the cast iron jobs we had in the pipeline have now all been cancelled. All Government back jobs (Schools, Colleges, Hospitals, MOD works) and the company is now worth considerable less, just one month after his decision to retire.

He now has the choice of selling as planned at a reduced price and enjoy his retirement, all be it with less money in the bank. Stay on and hope work picks up again, then sell. Or stay on and if no work comes in, fold the company. As is can't pay wages forever. Means I'm out of a job too.

Obviously this is stressing him out even more now.

First thing to do though STI......

Get a second opinion regarding the Stroke.

Leslie

Like everyone says, you must be pushing things far too hard to get a TIA at your age. My mother had one at 79 and she did what she was told by the medics and lived to 97.

You must back off and learn how to relax, the alternative is just not worth it.

Les

Matteeboy

My Dad had similar aged 30. Ran successful commercial interior design company, had plenty of money but collapsed twice.

So we moved from Surrey to Cornwall and he is much better despite earning far less. He reckons it probably saved his life.

Have always seen this as an example of excessive money chasing. You can't (IMO) enjoy yourself as much aged 50++ as you can when you are much younger, fitter and healthier so why constantly chase money above everything else. Plus you might die tomorrow.

We've been lucky down here but we earn good money (yet don't actually know our exact "take home" - it's not needed), work hard when needed but also take the odd afternoon off. Makes two week holidays tricky but TBH you hardly need them down here.

I'd say chill out a LOT, take a pay cut of £30k and spend that on a good manager. You won't be much use to your company or your family if you are dead. Which after getting a TIA at 29 is highly likely if you don't notch down several gears.

My uncle is a multi millionaire yet 20 stone, very unhappy and depressed (sadly lost his wife/my aunt a while ago) and doesn't really care about anything any more. Is it really worth it?!

It is possible to earn plenty and be happy/healthy but it needs working on.

The inlaws and FIL's parents have also made a pile but seem to be able to enjoy themselves having worked hard but smart for many years.

Snazy

Jeez dude, take it easy man. Hope this is something that you can overcome and avoid reoccuring.
Sounds like you need some R&R and a little review of lifestyle.

At least you are taking the right approach and trying to see what you can do to avoid it.

All the best with getting in a better place.

I totally agree, live life, like today is the last day

chocolate_o_brian

iTrader: (22)

Just to add to the points of Kieran, it's good to have an attitude of earning well and working hard. But the point you made about more money meaning a better quality of life is a rather naive comment to make. More money means a better quality of possession, not life in general. I'm personally on next to nothing currently (about 1/8 of my old weekly income), but I'm not desperately unhappy. I just appreciate the little things more. Would be nice to be on a great wack of cash, but I won't kill myself or risk my relationship for the pleasure of buying Heinz baked beans over Value beans, if you follow my drift.

Steve, get better soon fella, genuinely mean that.

Jap Import

Agreed. I spent yesterday having lunch on the beach.
No traffic noise, just the sound of the waves rolling in.

The sun and the coastline, the 2 best things in life IMO and they're free

finalzero

I have just had strange deja-vu reading this thread as in I have read this thread before... I need to stop surfing so much!

I had a similar situation to you mate, I got attacked a long time ago leaving me with severe head injuries (but somehow I survived).

I actually checked myself out of the hospital the next day which was a bad idea, a few days later had memory loss, fits of anger/rage and blackouts which turned out to be a stroke or two, luckily I saw sense to get my **** back into the hospital.

Yeah you need to review your life but whatever you do, don't stress yourself out - just take it as it comes mate, next day is always better

Jer

Sorry to hear about the bad news mate. As said, maybe you need some help at work a manager that reports to you of some sort. If it's a newish business make sure you minimise stress by setting protocol and checklists for everything that can cause you stress as I found out the hard way. Work smart not hard that's my motto delegate to people and treat them well.
Just back from a few weeks in Thailand so am chilled out. Thai people are a good example most have nothing but they all go about smiling.
I also find going to the gym first thing in the morning helps me from getting stressed.